RedEaredSlider writes: NASA is planning a mission to collect a piece of an asteroid and return it to Earth in order to discover clues to the formation of the solar system and possibly, the origins of life.

Called the OSIRIS-REx, for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, the probe is scheduled to launch in 2016. It will fly to an asteroid called 1999 RQ36, an asteroid that orbits roughly between Earth and Mars. After spending about a year studying the asteroid, it will return the samples to Earth by 2023.Link to Original Source